AUGUST 26, 2010 ISSUE
News Watch
A Quick Look at News Across the Region
Watauga Quarter-Cent Sales Tax Referendum August 31, Early Voting Underway
Early voting is already underway in Watauga County for a referendum deciding whether to enact a quarter-cent sales tax that, according to the Watauga County Board of Commissioners, would be used to pay off the debt service on a new county recreation center and long-awaited eastern community center.
The referendum is scheduled for Tuesday, August 31, and one-stop early voting began on August 12 and will continue this Thursday and Friday, August 26 and 27, at the Board of Elections office, located at 842 West King Street, Suite 6 in Boone, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day. One-stop early voting will also be available this Saturday, August 28, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Board of Elections office, and on Tuesday, August 31, all county precincts will be open operating out of regular polling places from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. All registered voters in Watauga County are eligible to vote. For more info on voting in the referendum, click to www.wataugacounty.org/elections or call 828-265-8061.
Women’s Equality Day Thursday
In 1971, the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as Women’s Equality Day. The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y.
The observance of Women’s Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality. Workplaces, libraries, organizations and public facilities now participate with Women’s Equality Day programs, displays, video screenings or other activities. For more info, click to www.nwhp.org/resourcecenter/equalityday.php.
Community Farm Dinner Moved to September 18
Story by Anna Oakes
Originally scheduled for this Saturday, August 28, a community farm dinner at Maverick Farms in Valle Crucis has been moved to Saturday, September 18.
Presented by Maverick Farms, High Country CSA (community supported agriculture) and the Leola Street Community Garden, the farm dinner will serve as a celebration of the growing season and the people who make it happen. Proceeds from the dinner will support the Leola Street Community Garden and High Country CSA and Maverick Farms community food products.
The suggested donation for the dinner is $25, with a $5 discount for High Country CSA farmers and Leola Street Community Garden plot holders.
To attend, RSVP by calling 828-963-4656 or emailing communityfarmdinner@gmail.com and indicate your preference for the meat or vegetarian meal option.
Report: Region’s Economy Continues its Rocky Ride
Western North Carolina’s (WNC) economic picture continues to be mixed, according to a recent report. Economic activity in the 25-county region, as measured by the Western North Carolina Economic Index, fell 0.1 percent in June—the second consecutive monthly decline.
The index increased at an annual rate of only 0.4 percent in the second quarter—down significantly from the 4 percent rate for the first quarter of 2010. As a comparison, the national economy grew at 2.4 percent in the second quarter and 3.7 percent in the first quarter.
“The regional economy has lost momentum,” said Todd Cherry, a co-author of the report and director of the ASU Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis, in a press release. “While late 2009 and early 2010 gave us signs of a recovery, things have slowed down in recent months.”
The slowdown is attributed to regionwide job losses. The region lost about 2,800 jobs in June with losses in 24 of the 25 WNC counties. Only Graham County reported a slight increase in jobs (0.35 percent). Wilkes, Rutherford and Yancey counties had the largest losses in employment (1.82, 1.31 and 1.27 percent, respectively).
“In recent months, we’ve lost much of the gains in employment that we experienced early in the year,” Cherry said in a press release. During the first six months of the year, the region had gained 3,442 jobs.
“In some counties, we are seeing lower employment and lower unemployment, which indicates that people have left the labor force. This often means that people have become discouraged and stopped looking for employment, but the recent legislative uncertainties of unemployment benefits may also be contributing to this observation,” Cherry said in a press release.
Seasonally adjusted WNC unemployment registered 10.4 percent in June—down 0.2 points from the previous month. The state unemployment rate decreased 0.4 points to 10 percent. The national unemployment rate fell 0.2 points to 9.5 percent.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate within the region’s rural counties registered 10.8 percent in June, down 0.1 points from May. In the region’s metro areas, unemployment registered 12.8 percent in Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir—down 0.2 points from the previous month. Unemployment remained unchanged at 8.1 percent in Asheville.
Movement in the county-level seasonally adjusted unemployment rates was mixed in June. For the month, adjusted unemployment rates decreased in 14 of the 25 WNC counties. Caldwell and Graham counties experienced the largest decline in unemployment rates (0.53 and 0.48 points, respectively), while Alleghany and Madison counties had the largest increases in rates (1.00 and 0.70 points, respectively).
Watauga and Buncombe counties had the lowest unemployment rates in June (7.20 and 7.88 percent, respectively), while Rutherford and Caldwell counties had the highest rates (14.74 and 13.94 percent, respectively).
Twenty-three of the 25 WNC counties have lower unemployment rates than 12 months ago, with Ashe and Madison counties being the two counties with higher rates.
Seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance in the region, a leading indicator of unemployment, increased 5.2 percent in June. Initial claims increased 8.2 percent in Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir and remained unchanged in Asheville.
John W. Dawson, an associate professor in the Walker College of Business’s Department of Economics, and Richard Crepeau, an associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Geography and Planning, coauthored the WNC Index.
The index provides a monthly account of economic conditions for Western North Carolina and is typically released the fifth week following each month. The WNC Index and Report is a cooperative effort by AdvantageWest-North Carolina and ASU’s Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis and the Walker College of Business. For more info, click to www.cerpa.appstate.edu/wncindex.php.
Alternative Energy Powers Inquisitive Minds
Local school groups often tour the various renewable energy projects at ASU.
The tours are conducted by ASU’s Wind Applications Center, which is part of the Department of Technology’s Energy Center. Stops include the university’s wind turbine near the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center, the biodiesel processing facility off State Farm Road, the energy efficient model dwelling located on Rivers Street and the photovoltaic array in front of Raley Hall.
The students also see how solar thermal panels are tested in the Department of Technology. And they can make their own electricity to light a light bulb by pedaling a bike that’s connected to a generator.
Students learn why alternative and renewable energy is good for the environment and how the technology plays an increasingly large part of consumers’ energy use. For more info about the tours, e-mail wind@appstate.edu or call 828-262-7333.
ASU Safety Week September 7 to 10
Personal, psychological, relationship and online safety are the focuses of Safety Week, which takes place at ASU from Tuesday to Friday, September 7 to 10.
With the theme “Be Safe—On Campus, At Home, Online,” the week’s activities will focus on measures individuals can take to help improve their safety on campus, in the community and when online in chat rooms, on Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites.
Activities are open to the public.
Contact tables will be located in Plemmons Student Union from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. throughout the week with information about ASU’s campus emergency alert system called AppState Alert, mental health, alcohol use and abuse, personal health, online safety and other topics.
In addition, the following special programs or activities will occur during the week:
Tuesday, September 7, Relationship Safety
• Contact tables with information about relationship safety, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Plemmons Student Union
• OASIS Clothesline Project, a display of t-shirts with antiviolence messages, Sanford Mall. Presented by OASIS, the Women’s Center and the Counseling and Psychological Services Center.
• Self-Defense Training with Cathy Roberts-Cooper, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Plemmons Student Union Price Lake Room, sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Development and the Women’s Center.
• “Why Walk?—A Survivor’s Story”: a film and discussion about two abductions in 1989 that led to establishing the university’s annual Walk for Awareness, 8:00 to 9:00 p.m., Plemmons Student Union’s Price Lake Room.
• Walk for Awareness, a silent walk through campus beginning at 9:00 p.m. honoring victims and survivors of violence. The walk begins on Sanford Mall and ends at Duck Pond Field. Speakers are poet Maliaka King Albrecht and Jamar Banks, director of ASU’s Center for Student Involvement and Leadership.
Wednesday, September 8, Personal and Psychological Safety
• Contact tables with information about the university’s Early Intervention Team, physical and psychological safety and alcohol poisoning, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Plemmons Student Union.
• AppCares Suicide Prevention Training, noon to 1:30 p.m., Plemmons Student Union’s Attic Window Room. Presented by the Wellness Center and the Counseling and Psychological Services Center.
• “Sex and a Six Pack,” a night of interactive theater where the audience sets the stage, learns valuable information, and makes decisions regarding alcohol, sex and the law, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., I.G. Greer Auditorium. Sponsored by the Wellness Center, OASIS and Multicultural Student Development.
Thursday, September 9, Public Safety
• Contact tables for University Police’s Special Response Team (SRT), AppStateAlert sign up, bike registration and bike safety, home and fire safety and parking and traffic information, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Plemmons Student Union.
• Test of campus wide emergency system, 11:55 a.m.
• Wii driving course, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Plemmons Student Union’s Calloway Peak Room, location, presented by University Police.
• “Shots Fired”: video portraying actions to take if an armed person is reported on campus, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Plemmons Student Union’s Roan Mountain Room. Presented by University Police.
Friday, September 10, Safety Online
• Contact tables with information about social networking, phishing and other topics, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Plemmons Student Union.
• “Facebook and Social Media Safety,” 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Plemmons Student Union’s Roan Mountain Room. Presented by Oscar Knight, Information Technology Service.
• “Keeping your Personal Information Private,” noon to 1:00 p.m., Plemmons Student Union’s Roan Mountain Room. Bring your lunch and join Oscar Knight, information technology service, for this informative session.
Rare Sandpiper Sighted on Yellow Mountain in Avery County
The North Carolina mountains get a lot of tourists this time of year, but one of the rarest was sighted two weeks ago at the Nature Conservancy’s Big Yellow Mountain Preserve in Avery County. Baird’s Sandpiper, which breeds in the high Arctic and then migrates through the plains states to its winter home in the Andes and Patagonia region of South America, was photographed atop the 5,540-foot peak.
Most sandpipers are found in mudflats, beaches, lakeshores and other similar wet habitat. Baird’s prefers drier habitats. They have been found on sod farms, airports and damp pastures during their migration. But they rarely are found in North Carolina. The scattered sightings of this rare visitor have been from the coast, coastal plain and piedmont. The only recorded mountain sightings have been in a low elevation location in Henderson County. The August 13 sighting at Big Yellow Mountain is the first and only high elevation mountain occurrence in North Carolina.
“You might think that the high elevation bald at Big Yellow Mountain would be a very odd place for a shorebird,” said Merrill Lynch, who manages the Conservancy’s northern mountains office, in a press release. “But, Baird’s Sandpipers breed in dry tundra habitat and also winter in similar habitat above tree line in the Andes so the short grass habitat at Big Yellow would be an attractive place for an off-course migrant. That’s what makes birding such an exciting hobby. Birds can and do veer way off course during migration and can literally show up just about anywhere.”
Lynch, an avid birder for more than four decades, said Baird’s sandpiper has one of the longest migration routes of any bird, with some individuals traveling more than 9,000 miles each way during migration. Lynch plans to submit this record to Chat, which is the official journal of the Carolina Bird club, and to North American Birds, a journal published by the American Birding Association.
John McAllister III of Charlotte, Worth McAllister of Asheville, Stewart Flora of Greensboro, Terry Ward of Asheville and the Conservancy’s Mike Horak made the sighting. McAllister took several photographs of the bird.
The 426-acre Big Yellow Preserve is owned by the Nature Conservancy and managed jointly by the Conservancy and the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. Big Yellow is a grassy bald and is home to a number of rare plant species including Gray’s lily. A more common migratory visitor is the Monarch butterfly, which often congregate there during their fall migration. For more information about Baird’s Sandpiper, click to www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bairds_Sandpiper/id.
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